Author Crafted Thrillers and Created a Franchise

Tom Clancy's tightly wound military thrillers grew into a multimedia entertainment franchise encompassing not just novels but also films, videogames and board games.

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Tom Clancy: 'I've made up stuff that turned out to be real.'
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Best-selling author Tom Clancy, whose death at age 66 was announced Wednesday, is credited for almost single-handedly creating the techno-thriller genre and spawned several successful Hollywood films based on his books. (Photo: Getty Images)

Mr. Clancy, whose death in Baltimore at age 66 was announced Wednesday by his publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, put military hardware front and center starting with his first novel, "The Hunt for Red October," a Cold War submarine thriller that was a best seller when it was published in 1984.

The book introduced Mr. Clancy's main hero, Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst whose adventures over more than a dozen novels included fighting Colombian drug lords, Arab terrorists and the Chinese navy. Ryan eventually becomes U.S. president.

Mr. Clancy's books drew comparisons to masters of military and espionage suspense, including Frederick Forsyth and Robert Ludlum.

Like them, Mr. Clancy built a large fan base and was a perennial presence on national best-seller lists. Putnam estimated there are in excess of 100 million copies of his books in print world-wide.

A native of Baltimore, Mr. Clancy grew wealthy enough to become a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team.

He will likely be best remembered for having created the techno-thriller with his debut novel, said Sessalee Hensley, fiction buyer for Barnes & Noble Inc.,BKS0.23% the nation's largest bookstore chain.

"Many writers took their cue from him and were inspired by him," Ms. Hensley said. "Tom Clancy brought a sense of realness to military equipment and action that hadn't been done before."

Alec Baldwin played Jack Ryan in the 1990 film version of "The Hunt for Red October." Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck played Jack Ryan in subsequent films based on novels by Mr. Clancy. Another Clancy-inspired film, "Jack Ryan: Shadow One," is slated for release in December starring Chris Pine.

Mr. Clancy was working as an insurance salesman when "The Hunt for Red October" was first published by the Naval Institute Press. Although he never served in the military, Mr. Clancy was fascinated with fighting equipment and had previously published in a Naval Institute publication his proposal that the MX missile be deployed on hovercraft.

The book became a surprise best seller, helped in part by President Ronald Reagan, who pronounced it "unputdownable." The hardware descriptions were so good that some in the Pentagon suggested he had printed leaked information. Mr. Clancy denied it but once claimed, "I've made up stuff that turned out to be real."

"I've made up stuff that turned out to be real."That is such an understatement. When I worked in DC in 2001-2002 when everything was becoming terribly dangerous and there were national security threats constantly, I told my parents back home that "Every month we act out a chapter from a Tom Clancy book." His national security thrillers seemed far-fetched, but often had a way of becoming reality. I remember seeing The Sum of All Fears in May 2002 and, lo and behold, India and Pakistan were engaging in some nuclear saber-rattling that frightened me to pieces. The situation also frightened the headline writers at CNN.com who wrote in large font that "millions" of lives were at risk, which, reading that, only frightened me even more. Mr. Clancy's passing is not only a huge loss for his family, it is a loss for American popular culture, but also creates a loss of plausible storylines that kept the imaginations of defense, intelligence, and political leaders alert and creative on how to tackle virtually every worst case scenario. He will be sorely missed.

There are a few giants in American public life who we have lost whose contributions were so indelible that there was no one in their league. For example, when the market tanks, I do not have Louis Reukeyser's friendly, lighthearted Wall Street Week monologue to calm me down, keep the faith, and not sell. My dad grew up poor and, I am proud to say, became a self-made man by learning from that show. He had a teacher's salary and is a bleeding heart liberal, but unlike his colleagues on the same pay scale, managed his money in such a disciplined way early on that he retired at 48 and has been spending his time however he wants for 20 years since, much to the amazement of his friends and former colleagues, some of whom are still chained to their desks. That show changed my family's life. Reukeyser never seemed to take money or himself too seriously. Remember "the elves?" :-) Cutting his show was the stupidest decision PBS ever made, such a disservice. Yet I digress.

Giants in American public life we have lost, in my book, include: Tom Clancy, Louis Reukeyser, Steve Jobs (who seemed to me, no matter his well-known temper, to serve as a quasi-father figure to a generation of young people who grew up and devoted their careers to IT, or, simply consumers of his gadgets), Roger Ebert (whose columns had a profound impact on me, no matter whether or not I agreed with him), and Julia Child (who changed my mom's life, as one of the many millions of "servantless" American home cooks :-) ). They cast a long shadow.

What impressed me about his writing was that it truly spanned a style between pure spy thrillers such as Red Rabbit and Cardinal of the Kremlin, to more military action thrillers such as Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, Without Remorse and the epic Red Storm Rising. His non-fiction works were at least as good for their insight into our military and military leaders. Few writers master a single genre let alone three.

RIP Tom Clancy - my need for Lasix was probably partially induced by staying up too late reading your books, but it was well worth it.

I remember the exact day I purchased my first Tom Clancy novel as I was at the airport leaving for our honeymoon and picked up Red Storm Rising. I have read or listened to (love downloading the books on my iPhone when I'm on the road) every novel since and I will truly miss his work. Thank you for the many hours of distraction and for leaving behind the legacy you did. RIP Mr. Clancy!

I will miss Ryan, Clark, Ding, Patricia, Jack Jr. and all the others. But Mr Clancy thank you so much for introducing to us these heroes of your mind. We will miss them, but not as much as we will miss you sir.

How sad - the books were fun to read and recognizably realistic to this old retired flyer. The movies always were able to be very entertaining, but more difficult to build up all the characters in a film after such detail was allowed in the hardcovers. Tom certainly enjoyed an exciting life for the past 30 years since he hit the big time but was always down to Earth and approachable. He will be missed.

Rest in Peace Mr. Clancy...I have read many of your books. They helped keep me awake many a time while waiting to recover an Air Force jet at night while stationed overseas, during a many Christmas 'tour', time and time again...

I hope they enjoy many reprinting's to help your family recover from your loss...

RIP Tom. I had an opportunity to meet Tom at an "Authors On-Board" the QE2 on a transatlantic crossing, it was basically a Q and A session which I completely enjoyed. Tom signed one of his books for me which has a hollowed place on my bookshelf.

He should have stopped writing in the late 80s. His later works suffered from such precipitous drop in quality that it's hard to recognize. And he too often lets his politics creep into his novel, not just a little bit but everywhere, having President Ryan bit**c**hing about abortion politics paragraph after paragraph in a military thriller just ain't cool.

Red Storm Rising, what a rush!!! I couldn't put it down. Clancy was the best ever!! He understood the history of our military as well as anyone, and he portrayed our military in the best possible light! We lost a good man and a great writer today.

Okay, this is a news story? He was young. What was the cause of death? Was it sudden? This is pretty basic reporting and even if the answers aren't immediately available the article should state as much. Where is the editor here?

The last novel I read was "The Bear And The Dragon." That was pretty good.

There was another novel, "Without Remorse," which was about the beginnings of the shady John Clark character. I did not really like that as much and that turned me off of Clancy for awhile until my parents bought me "The Bear And The Dragon."

My first Tom Clancy book was "Red Storm Rising" which I read during AIT while I was training to assemble and fire nuclear missiles at Ft. Sill. And another very good book was "Into The Storm: On The Ground In Iraq" he wrote with General Fred Franks. This was not only a study of the Persian Gulf War from VII Corps's (or as our current Commander-in Chief who has never served would say "Seven Corpse" out of ignorance) perspective but it is also the story of how U.S. Army leadership stepped up and invested in the training of its lower enlisted, sergeants, and officers learning the lessons of Vietnam through the first Gulf War as told by the TRADOC Commander. This was a fascinating book.

Much credit goes to Naval Institute Press that had the knowledge and faith to publish "Hunt For Red October" by Mr. Clancy and "Flight of the Intruder" by Stephen Coontz. Both novels were smashing successes, and both authors went on to great success with subsequent novels. RIP, Mr. Clancy.

My daughter read all his books for the first time this summer and loved them. She told me this morning that he had one coming out this fall. I hope he tied it all up. There was a lot left hanging after the last book. Mr. Clancy will surely be missed.

The first 4 Clancy books were great, and Hollywood did a good job not to mess up Hunt for Red October, Clear and Present Danger, and Patriot Games, all stellar movies. As an occasional wargamer myself, I think Clancy's fascination with wargaming helped him achieve a degree of historicity and realism in his plots.

Every year his latest book was my Christmas present to myself. I'll miss the anticipation of his latest story every year. And isn't that what every writer wants, readers who can't wait for their next words?

Surprised that the article did not mention "Debt of Honor" (1994) in which Mr. Clancy wrote of a terrosit-style attack whiich killed the President and most of the Congress by crashing a 747 into the Capitol.

This element of prescience was part of what makes his novels so engaging.

Thank you, Tom Clancy, for many hours of fun and thrills and esoteric education. Your work helped me take up an interest in reading fiction- one of those lifelong 'carry-over sports'. Best wishes for a rest in peace and condolences to those close to you. pgs

I liked the movies better than the books . . .faster moving and not lost in the detail . . but all were inspired by his genius . . RIP Tom Clancy, I will watch "Patriot Games" tonight in your honor . . .

I first discovered Hunt for Red October on the TV in a motel room at Wrightsville Beach, NC. I was fixated. I stayed in the room my entire beach vacation of two days watching and re-watching this video. Needless to say, I immediately stopped at the nearest bookstore on the way home and bought the book. Great stuff. I had not realized he was so young. Let it be a lessen to all of us 61 year olds.

I remember a TV interview with Tom Clancy. The interviewer asked him what the most dangerous weapon in history was. He thought for a few seconds and responded "A man with a radio". Clancy knew how valuable espionage is.

Sad to lose such a prolific writer of good & captivating novels. Equally as sad will be the flood of Clancy franchise books to be published by Putnam entitled "Tom Clancy's [fill in the blank with a compelling title]" authored by someone other than Mr. Clancy. The machine must be fed...

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